


Resting Place

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, F/M, Mass Effect 2, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7046791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard tackles a task for her own peace of mind as she prepares to head through the Omega 4 Relay and to her destiny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resting Place

“You sure you want to do this on your own? I mean, I doubt there are thresher maws hanging around or anything, but it sorta… you know… sucks.”

“I’m fine, Joker. I’ll let you know if I need anything,” Shepard answered as she stepped gingerly out onto the frozen terrain of Alchera.

She’d been putting this off for perhaps a bit longer than she should have. There was work to be done here and closure to be provided for several families. For her, the trauma of the Normandy SR-1’s demise was quite fresh. Everyone else viewed this as a distant and unpleasant memory. Despite her hesitance to confront her mortality and failures so boldly, respects needed to be paid.

Shepard hadn’t been sure what she expected when looking upon the graveyard that had become the final resting place of the SR-1, but somehow, this wasn’t it. It hadn’t corroded or aged even a day. Other than the ice build-up over time, it appeared as though the charred remnants of her vessel had just landed her only a short while ago. She swallowed hard when she acknowledged that that’s how it felt to her, too.

She took her time, eyeing each dark hunk of twisted metal and blackened electronic panel she passed, trying to guess where it might have been positioned when the Normandy was still whole. Some of it she recognized, and some of it had been too badly damaged to tell.

The quiet of the snowy landscape made it feel like she was disturbing the dead as she stooped to pick up Alliance dog tags where she could find them. Each time she did so, she looked at the name etched into the tag and envisioned that crew member’s face. She remembered what she could of each of their stories and what family and friends would be receiving the keepsake when she returned them to the Alliance. It hurt to have become so easily acquainted with them, but ultimately she was thankful that she had. They wouldn’t be forgotten here under ice and snow on a distant planet.

She quickly located the what had once been the CIC and stared at it for a long while before stepping up to the icy, ruined shell. This was where her last memories occurred before she was being yelled at by Miranda to get up and start moving. She remembered sending Kaidan away, slowly making her way to the cockpit as the ship crumbled around her, looking up at Alchera overhead as the hull of the vessel was already ripped open. The vivid images the broken pieces stirred made her heart sink.

A datapad caught her eye, and when she wiped her hand across its frosty surface, she realized it was a journal of sorts kept by Navigator Pressly. Shepard smiled to herself as she thought of him, a gruff, cautious, and opinionated man with a good heart. Though she felt a little awkward for perusing his thoughts like this, she couldn’t help but search for bits and pieces of the somewhat happy life she lived before. Anything from that small window of time between Saren’s defeat and the downfall of the Normandy was welcome to remind her why she needed to take a suicide mission. There were things worth saving. She smiled broadly as she scrolled through the information held on the datapad and recognized Pressly’s change of heart regarding the many alien races joining the SR-1 under her advisement. It had taken a while to convince him that everything would be fine aboard an Alliance vessel with krogan, asari, turian, and quarian allies, but it seemed that he had come to that realization on his own, eventually.

Probing further into the wreckage, she located the cockpit. Seats were askew, screens broken, and wires dangling precariously everywhere, but her mind’s eye could see it how it once was. This was where she’d pried Joker out and forced him into an escape pod. She’d barely had a chance to hit the launch before the ship blew apart. Right here. She could almost hear the chaos and noise of it all reverberating in her helmet. A fierce shiver ran down her spine.

Shepard swallowed hard when she located the remnants of the crew deck. Though it was quiet, dark, and still, she remembered laughter echoing off of those walls. She recalled silly arguments over meals among the crew. There were many close, quiet conversations that happened in the heart of the ship that felt so recent that this empty remnant was positively surreal. This was certainly why Horizon caused her such searing pain. Many of those conversations had involved her and Kaidan. They were slowly, tentatively getting acquainted and shortly thereafter, falling for one another.

Another thought struck the commander as she tried to push thoughts of her wounded heart and lost love aside. She dearly missed Ashley. The gunnery chief’s face flashed in her mind as she continued wandering through the wreckage. Maybe she would have understood the precarious situation that Shepard found herself in now. Would she have been as hurt, defiant, and suspicious as Kaidan had been seeing her for the first time after the SR-1’s destruction? She sighed heavily, knowing that Ashley would probably agree with her former lieutenant. In all honesty, she couldn’t blame them. Once this suicide mission was over, she hoped she’d someday have a chance to explain in whatever afterlife awaited her. Sadly, that was the best she could do for now.

A sound akin to a whimper escaped her as she stumbled upon the sleeper pods and that stupid console that Kaidan was constantly fixing.

“Commander? You good?” Joker was closely monitoring the comms, it seemed.

Shepard cleared her throat. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just… slipped. Icy down here.” She continued staring at that empty space as her stomach twisted uncomfortably. Eventually, she shook her head and chastised herself for spending too long mourning a dead relationship rather than paying proper respects to members of her crew that had actually lost their lives here.

She carefully erected the memorial that she assumed no one would ever come to see. It seemed so silly and trivial and unnecessary, as the wreckage itself really appeared to be serving as its own memorial. It wasn’t likely to change any time soon. Still, it was a typical, pleasant Alliance gesture, she supposed, to make sure that anyone who dared to step foot in this far-flung rubble would know the names of those who had died as a part of the tragedy.

Moving back in the direction of her shuttle, Shepard tried to make peace with what happened years ago. Though it all was alarmingly fresh in her mind, she willed herself to move on. She and her cohorts were nearly done tying off loose ends and settling business before they headed through the infamous and mysterious mass relay for good. This was hers. She endeavored to say goodbye and stop reliving it in nightmares and conversations. A clear mind was the only way she was going to be able to carry on to her own demise for the benefit of the galaxy.

She turned back one last time before she boarded the shuttle to return to the SR-2. Shepard cocked her head to the side curiously and called out to her crew. “Hey, Joker.”

“What’s up, Commander?”

“You think the Normandy could handle a heavy load?”

“How heavy are we talking?” Joker responded, his tone betraying his skepticism.

“Say… a Mako?” Shepard answered.

“Don’t even think about it, Shepard,” came a quick interruption from Garrus.

She softly chuckled as her gloved fingers ran along the icy, metal hull of her beloved Mako. She was strangely tempted to try and climb inside and see if she could free it from its frozen prison. There was little doubt in her mind that it admirably survived the fall through the atmosphere, seeing as she’d put it through an inordinate amount of abuse herself. She guessed however, that if it had indeed been over two years as everyone had claimed, its power cells were likely depleted. There was little necessity for it beyond the Omega 4 Relay, anyway.

If it turned out to be needed, though, she was going to blame Garrus.

“Alright. I’m heading back.”


End file.
